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Does the Arsenal hierarchy care about the real fans ?

'It's gonna be an interesting season for the Arsenal', I pointed out to the die-hard Arsenal fan as we walked around the park with the dogs.

'How so ?', he asked.

'Well, aren't the fans already starting to complain ?', I said. 'A bit of a mediocre start to their Premier League campaign, and that poor effort against Dortmond in the week. Isn't (Arsenal manager) Arsene Wenger under pressure already ?'.

'Pressure ? Who is he under pressure from ? The media ?'.

'The media, yes, but also some sections of the fans. Didn't that FA Cup victory just pump up the fans to expect Arsenal to kick on this season ?'.

'It doesn't matter what the fans think, anyway', the Arsenal supporter replied. 'Arsenal's not about real fans - 40,000 could stop coming to games tomorrow, and they'd just get replaced by 40,000 more. The club couldn't care less about the real fans. Arsenal aren't interested in forcing Wenger's hand to build a more balanced squad that could truly compete. The powers that be are more concerned about selling those corporate hospitality boxes - many of which appear to remain empty on Emirates match days anyway'.

'You've only got to look at season ticket prices', he continued. 'A thousand a season now - for the cheapest seats! If Arsenal cared about the real fans - who live in the real world - they'd do something about that. No, Arsenal's just a business. A very well run one, mind. And those boys who run the club are happy to have a manager who generally watches the pennies, wins the odd trophy and gets Arsenal in the Champions League every year. The real fans just have to suck it up'.